When the coyotes howl
by charlietheboa
Summary: Rogue is an X-Man facing some tricky choices (Logan or Scott for example). She becomes a great pilot, but her relationships need some work. Later, Pyro returns to destroy Rogue and she will face the battle of life.
1. One

**Author Note: **This is my first fanfic ever so be kind. I think I like reviews so review away. Of course I don't own any of the characters and like everyone else I'd love to. Enjoy! Short Chaps, but I hope to have many. (depending on the reviews I guess). Scott or Logan? That is the question of the day!

As she entered the Mansion's ominous foyer, only the ticking of a large grandfather clock to her left greeted her. The noise echoed in her head, thanks to the somewhat sensitive hearing left over from Logan since that fateful night at the Statue of Liberty.

Marie was exhausted. She had been out jogging for almost three hours through the mansion's beautiful grounds. Her jogs had become part of a regular routine since Jean had died. The fresh air filling her lungs during her workouts was a relief to the stagnant, heaviness she felt sometimes when she was inside Xavier's. With Scott mopping around in one half of the mansion, and Logan constantly fidgeting around in the other half, Marie sometimes felt trapped between the two extremes.

It had only been six months since Jean's death and the men continued to cope, each in their own way. Both were teaching classes, Scott taught most of the academics (English Lit, World History, and Math), while Logan taught the more physical classes: self-defense, mutation skills, and combat training (for the older students). Logan however didn't stay at the mansion overnight. Ever. He always left sometime after dinner, and returned before Marie had returned from her morning jog. Where he went was anyone's guess, and Marie felt it was probably better this way. Scott on the other hand, did stay at the mansion. He moved out of the room that he shared with Jean, and "started fresh" as he liked to call it, in the room across from Marie's.

Marie hurried up the stairs. She hadn't intended on jogging for so long, but at least she had chosen to do so on a Sunday when she didn't have any classes to teach. Between her and Ororo, they managed to cover all of the classes that Jean had taught and then some. Ororo had managed to scoop up any science classes, leaving Marie to teach Art, Music and to assist Logan in teaching Mutation Skills. Ororo merely scoffed at the notion of teaching with Logan, stating that Marie understood him and his questionable teaching methods. There was also an under-the-breath comment about lightning striking some manners into the adamantium thick skull, but no one would admit to hearing it.

Marie quickly changed into a pair of blue jeans, a low cut green top and matching gloves, she would have to shower later. She couldn't miss her flight training with Scott. He had insisted that she get in a few more rounds this weekend. Now that she was an official X-Men member, she had obligations, responsibilities to the team, a reason to keep living with her horrible mutation. That, and she was the alternate co-pilot, incase either Ororo or Scott were unavailable to fly the Blackbird.

Her horrible mutation. Really what else could be said, she hadn't succeeded in any attempts to control her skin. She was done moping about it. She knew that it was a weapon, that it would be forever a part of her and that clearly it was best used in combat. To kill. To borrow her enemies mutations and use them against them. It was its only true value. Relationships were just not a possibility. Bobby had been sweet but naïve. As an X-Man, he had now become one of her closest friends. Their relationship had mutated into that friendship upon returning to the Mansion the day Jean had died and Pyro had joined the Brotherhood. Somehow the loss of Pyro had affected their circle more than either would attest to.

Scott was already in the cock pit when she arrived. Marie could hear him ranting as she walked up the ramp.

"...if I even so much as got a speck of food on her yellow jacket, she would have zapped my ass so full of fire works! Women are so..so..so...HYPOCRITICAL!"

And there was Scott, bent over the floor of his precious blackbird, vacuuming up crumbs. Marie couldn't help but laugh.

"What? You'd be mad too! Why can't Jubilee and Kitty eat BEFORE we go on missions, like everyone else?!?"

Marie couldn't really fathom eating right before a big battle. Then of course, Kitty and Jubilee were not yet advanced enough to go on the really dangerous missions that Marie (finally!) had been cleared for.

"Scott, I think it's clean enough don't you? I really need some flight time, ya know, _before_ anything major happens 'round here".

Scott stood up and faced Marie. She had grown into quite the young woman and had the figure to prove it. However, although her body was that of a twenty year old, her eyes told a different story. Behind the brilliant green, there was an unequivocal history that reached far beyond her physical years that Scott hadn't really noticed until then. He was slowly beginning to understand why Logan often stared at Marie when he thought no one was watching. Scott had to tear his eyes away from hers,

"Then I guess we'd better get going" he added quickly.


	2. Two

**Author Note: **Continuing on, it will get better I promise. Review please, let me know I should continue, or not. Oh, and I don't know a lot about Arizona so I'm sorry if I offend anyone, I'm only familiar with Logan territory (I'm from Alberta, Canada).

Marie landed the blackbird with grace onto the desert sand. They were somewhere in Arizona according to the GPS systems in the plane. The sun had almost disappeared behind the horizon.

"That was excellent Marie!" She had far exceeded Scott's expectations. She could roll and maneuver the jet through a multitude of obstacles with an ease that even he hadn't yet mastered.

"Ready to head back whenever you are!" Marie was pleased with her abilities and eager to get back in the air.

"Not yet. Come on, I wanna show you something." Scott lowered the ramp and grabbed a duffle bag from behind his seat. With Marie in tow, he led them to a rock formation about 50 feet away. There were about four rocks, about as big as Marie, in a circle formation. In the centre, a fire pit build out of smaller rocks had been built, but not used in a very long time.

"I haven't been out here since before I got together with Jean. I used to come here all the time, you know sort things out; think about my family, what I was doing with my life. Charles must have loved the jet fuel bills." Scott pulled some fire wood out of the duffle bag and built a fire. "After Jean and I got together, I never came out here, no need I guess. I spent most of my time worrying about her and her growing powers. I kinda missed it though."

They sat in silence for awhile listening to some sort of coyote howl in the distance. If Marie hadn't known any better, she would have thought it was the Logan in her head trying to get out.

Finally Scott spoke again, "I thought that maybe you'd enjoy this place. I mean now that you are fully qualified to fly the jet, you are more than welcome to use this place to, you know, run away for an evening... Just leave a note like 'gone to get some air' and I won't tell anyone what it means. That way if there's an emergency I'll know to contact you on the comms." Scott was always thinking about the duties of an X-Man. She wouldn't be surprised if he knew where all the X-Men were at any time of the day...but if that was the case...

"I love this place Scott, thanks for showing it to me." Now, how was she going to ask?...Well, maybe she should just come right out and say it,

"Scott, I was wandering..."

"Hmmm?"

"Do you know where Logan goes every night? I mean does he just go to a bar and a trashy hotel, or does he live with someone somewhere? I was always kinda wondered."

"Just plain_ curious_?" Scott chuckled, "I find _that_ hard to believe!"

"Seriously Scott, where does he go?"

"I honestly don't know, but he does bring a comm. with him every night as per my request. I think it's the only advice he has ever followed of mine although it did take some convincing. And it's not for me that he brings it with him." There was a hint of resentment in his voice with his last words. Marie either ignored it or missed it entirely.

"I'm surprised Xavier would insist on something like that when he has such strong telepathy."

Scott grinned, "You know for one of my best new X-Men, you sure are clueless sometimes."


	3. Three

Monday morning was fairly quiet. Marie taught piano to a few students in the morning, and art to a group of six mutants between the ages of 12 and 16. In the afternoon, she met Logan outside near the basketball court to teach a group of eight students the Mutation skills class. They were divided into two teams, Marie head of one and Logan head of the other. Logan had set up two identical but very complex obstacle courses that morning. Both teams would race each other; the winning team would have the afternoon off. The losing team would stay and participate in a group discussion of how their mutations could have been better put to use. The teams were given 10 minutes to develop a strategy. Logan and Marie stepped back from the teams allowing the students the freedom to learn from each other without depending on their instructors.

"So kid, how was your flying lesson with one-eye?"

Marie smiled, she knew it was her last lesson, she was ready. "It went well."

"You sure? You came back really late; I was kinda wondering if you crashed into something and gave Scooter a heart attack for denting his baby."

"Nope. It went well." She paused and then added quietly, "I learned more than I thought I would." Logan's left eyebrow raised.

They continued to watch the children compete against each other through the two identical obstacle courses. Both teams succeeded beautifully, some children used their skills to modify the course for themselves or for others, while some simply used their skills to speed things up and improve their accuracy. Both teams came out tied. After the hooting and hollering ceased, the children then turned to their leaders.

Ella was one of the youngest and probably boldest children at Xavier's. "Maybe Rogue should race Wolverine to settle the tie for us?" she piped up. The suggestion elicited cheers from both teams, leaving little room for the two instructors to back out.

"I don't think that we'll have time for that. Besides," he smirked "it would hardly be a fair match."

Marie was hardly one to back down from a challenge. To kick the ass of the man who had too long called her a kid would be a refreshing experience.

"Ah think that is ah fine way to determine the winning team!"

"Whatcha gonna do? Touch the ropes and gain a super climbing ability?!" Logan's eyebrow was characteristically raised by this point.

"Logan, you may be able to slice and dice the ropes and walk right through like a pussy, but some of us succeed with hard work, sweat and, hmmm...what's it called again? Oh yeah..._skill!_"

Logan just grunted in response. Truth be told, her found her confidence extremely attractive. She was clearly a woman unlike any other he had ever known.

Ella held both arms in the air as the two X-men took their starting positions. "Ready....Set....GO!"

* * *

Surrounded in flames, Marie had no idea where to go. The rope wall in front of her was completely engulfed in fire. Behind her, she could feel flames licking at her ankles. Smoke was filing her lungs and blackness closed in around her as she collapsed.

She was barely breathing when he sliced through the red hot ropes and scooped up her limp body. The burning ropes had created lines of temporary, yet extremely painful, blisters across his skin. He didn't care; he had to get to Marie.

It had all happened so fast. For the first part of the race they had been neck and neck.

"C'mon Logan, is that really the best you can do?"

"Just tryin' to give ya a head start kid!"

They swam across the small pond, and Marie took the lead. Apparently adamantium was surprisingly heavy in water, and Marie's long graceful limbs seemed to just slice the water like it was soft butter. The next part of the course involved running 200 feet across the lawn and then scaling a large rope wall. When Logan had finally taken the lead by slicing through his own rope obstacle, he heard Marie's painful scream. He whipped around to see where she should have been scaling her own rope wall, and instead saw her jump backwards away from the ropes.

The ropes themselves were smoking and glowing red shortly before they burst into orange and blue flames. The flames spread to the ground with lightning speed and created a circle of fire nearly 10 feet high surrounding Marie. Logan could no longer see her behind the flames. Once again, Logan felt an intense sense of helplessness he only experienced once before during the Statue of Liberty incident. He pictured Marie's cold limp body in his arms as he desperately tried to revive her on that dreadful night.

Without realizing he was screaming out loud, Logan charged in to the fire. He had drawn his claws, as if by slicing at the wall of flames, he could kill the fire that was trying to consume his Marie. He scooped up her lifeless body and wrapped his arms around as much of her as he could, paying no mind to any exposed skin. He leapt out of the wall of flames.

Most of the children, who were watching the entire event unfold, were now either yelling or crying. Xavier had already sensed the growing anxiety, and now sheer panic, coming from the courtyard and knew something was terribly wrong. Logan rushed Marie into the Mansion and down to the Med Lab. Hank was already waiting for their arrival. Bobby had also already been deployed to extinguish the fire, followed closely by Ororo who brought the children back inside and calmed them.

With all the commotion, no one even saw the man left standing in the shadow of a tree, smugly surveying the smoldering remains of the obstacle course.


	4. Four

**Author's Note: **Thanks for the reviews! I feel lucky that even one person read it let alone eight of you. Questions to be answered: Rogue is about 20, sure. (I've never really focused on her age, she's young, but she's a woman. I thought I was a year younger than I actually am for about three years. Somewhere along the line I had missed a birthday, and I still turned out just fine.) As for Scott calling him Charles, pure writer error. I know, I'm not supposed to say that, let me rephrase: "creative license". As for Pyro...read on. Hope you all enjoy! Oh yes and for very true X-Men comic fans, Tarot is not the same character from Marvel. I have never read any stories involving her/him (I don't even know) from Marvel so I am really just borrowing the name. Hope I don't piss anyone off too much.

* * *

He never left her side. The bustle in the Med Lab was overwhelming but there was no way Logan was going anywhere. Hank, and two assistants who must have been the equivalent of nursing students, busied themselves around him.

Within minutes of bringing her into the Med Lab, Marie's breathing had stabilized.

"She is a very fortunate woman," Hank said. "She has suffered mostly 2 burns on her forearms, hands and calves. Her lungs have also sustained some damage due to the extreme heat of the smoke she inhaled. However, she will be just fine. She needs oxygen and rest. I will get Tarot to bandage her burns, of which she will need to keep free of infection for at least 10 days." The blue beast moved gracefully across the floor, a feat not too easily accomplished by any large man, but perfected by Hank. He grabbed Marie's chart and headed to his office.

Logan watched Tarot carefully wrap Marie's forearms and hands in white gauze. The young blond haired mutant was very pretty and struck Logan as the ideal nurse type. She had a small frame and made gentle motherly movements around her patient. Logan was not sure what her powers were but she had a very soothing bedside manner.

Logan glanced around the room and scooped up a small metal chair and placed it next to Marie's bed. No sooner than he had sat down, Scott rushed into the Med Lab. It was a dramatic entrance that received no attention from Logan. Logan couldn't tear her eyes away from Marie even as Scott approached them.

Scott felt his eyes moisten under his protective glasses. Back when Jean was around, he would have cared if Logan had sensed his weakness but now he wished he could tear away the visor and let a few tears slide down his cheeks and splash onto her skin, regardless of who saw his display of grief.

Scott pulled up a chair sat down opposite Logan beside Marie. There they waited in silence for her to wake up. Neither one would leave her side until she did.

* * *

He quietly shuffled his feet along the Oriental rug as he approached Xavier's office. He knocked on the door and received a somewhat surprised "Come in?"

As he entered the room, the smell of old books excited him. He wasn't some sort of reclusive book worm addict by any means; instead his thoughts were on how one small spark could ignite the entire place into a bonfire of glory. He pulled off his baseball cap as he moved into the light of the picture window over looking the grounds. At that moment, he may have been mistaken for a polite young man, but the metal layer on the inside of the baseball cap spoke of different intentions.

"Please, have a seat John." Xavier motioned to the large Victorian chair opposite him. "I'd like to say I've been expecting you but we both know that wasn't the case. However, we have missed you."

"This was a souvenir for me, from your pal Magneto," Pyro said turning the hat in his hands and hesitating momentary before carefully placing it back on his head. "It's kinda grown on me." He waited for Xavier to ask him to remove his hat, but the request never came. It seemed like an eternity of silence to Pyro before he finally spoke.

"Would you like to tell me what happened today in the courtyard?" Xavier asked.

"It was an accident. I was watching the kids and Rogue and Wolverine, I was flicking my zippo, I was nervous to be back and the next thing I know, stuff was on fire...I guess I'm sorry. I was just kinda on edge being back and all." Pyro waited again for a response and when he thought there wasn't go to be one he added, "I can leave, I probably shouldn't have come back anyways."

"No one wants you to leave, John," Xavier said.

Pyro was not used to the name John. His real name was Pyro, if Magneto had taught him anything, it was that. 'John' sounded like a parent scolding a child.

"You always have a home here at the mansion. You can have one of the spare rooms on the second floor. If you need anything or even just to get some things off your chest please feel free to talk to me or one of the other instructors. I think you'll find that we are very understanding people. Maybe we can even help you to avoid any future uncontrolled pyrotechnics." Xavier smiled at the young man standing in front of him. John appeared to be sincere but there was anger hiding beneath the surface, locked away in a mind Xavier was currently barred from.

* * *

Rogue felt like she had awoke from a hazy dream. This time however she was not surrounded by the comforts of her room but by the stark white linens and beeping machinery of the Med Lab. Both Logan and Scott asked her several questions regarding how she was feeling, what she needed, if they could do anything for her. In all honesty she just wanted out of there. Her burns were a little sore and her throat was scratchy but beyond that it was time to get back to life as usual, as usual as possible for a heroine-mutant.

Scott had several questions for both her and Logan regarding the incident and the proper incident reports needed to be completed. Rogue returned to her room to remove her current clothes as both the sleeves of her shirt and the legs from the knees down had been cut off by the Med Lad staff. She met Logan and Scott in one of the offices down in the underground wing of the mansion for the debriefing. After hearing both of their stories, Scott provided them with some new information.

"I think you both should know that the fire was an accident. More importantly I think you should know that Pyro is back."

"John's back?" Marie asked. "For good?"

"Well that's up to him really," Scott said. "Anyways he was nervous about returning and I guess that made him loose control over his powers and now the courtyard is a little singed."

"Interesting!" Logan practically spat out. "Marie, I think maybe you should get some rest, Scott and I have some things to discuss."

Tired, burned, and just plain pissed off, Marie snapped. "If you think that I am going to leave the room just so the men can have a chauvinistic discussion about the vulnerabilities of the women, you're wrong!"

"Marie..." Scott tried to interrupt the rant he knew was coming to bite Logan in the ass. It was a good thing he didn't however because it was going to be worth hearing.

"I have the right to hear your opinions since they _are_ about me. If you would like to talk about me behind closed doors, then do it later, over a couple of beers, and let it be about my sex appeal or something, not about what should be done to protect me! Stop being a baby Logan and speak your mind in front of me or I'll start calling _you_ 'Kid'." Marie finally took a breath. Unfortunately, the sudden intake of air scratched her throat causing her to have a sudden coughing fit. It was an unfortunate ending to an otherwise well executed lecture.

"Fine! You wanna know what I think? I think Pyro was up to no good. And I think that Scooter - you're wrong." Scott wondered how this had suddenly turned on him as Logan continued; "Pyro has extreme control over his abilities and that was clear at Bobby Drakes House with the unmentionable incident with the police. There was no way he _accidentally_ tried to kill Marie. I don't care how well Xavier can read minds, that kid, - oh look I'm calling someone else a kid, sue me - is trouble."

"Well actually," Scott really didn't want to tell Logan this one, but he was pretty much a major player in the X-Men team and had a right to know, "Xavier hasn't been able to read him at all, he is really attached to wearing a baseball cap built much the same way Magneto's telepathy-blocking helmet was."

"I'll bet he is! Doesn't tell you how dangerous he is? What is wrong with you people!?!" Logan was practically shouting now.

"If we assume he is dangerous, then we are no better than everyone who unjustly fears us" Scott's voice slowly got softer as he continued. "All it tells us he is that he is hiding something. People hide all sorts of things from others. They hide their anger, yes, but they also hide their fear...their pain...their desires...their love."

Marie watched Scott very carefully. He was a man with such passion but his sorrow was often overwhelming. She wondered how often he told others that assumptions make us act irrationally, like the people who fear mutants and assume they are dangerous. She wondered if maybe he repeated the speech so many times that it was slowly becoming meaningless to him. On the other hand, maybe it just made him sad to think that most of humanity, including Logan seemed to be stuck in an unbreakable cycle. Fear was always initiating a cycle of rejection, abuse and neglect towards the unknown, until the unknown becomes known, understood and then finally accepted. Why couldn't humanity simply skip right to the accepting part?

Marie also observed Logan with awareness of his inner turmoil. He was a man who was ready to fight the world. He desired many things, but fear of loss held him like a deer caught in the headlights. He wanted to trust others as easily as the other X-Men but his instincts were strong and binding. Marie also knew that this man might have been more understanding if the situation had not involved harm to her.

Not much else could be said; neither Logan nor Scott were speaking to each other anymore. Clearly, the debriefing was over. Marie returned to her room for the evening Getting some rest, as many times as it was suggested, was actually sounding like a very inviting idea. Both Scott and Logan walked her to her room in silence. Once her door closed, both men went their separate ways, Scott to his room across from Marie, and Logan settled in a spare room down the hall. It would be the first time Logan had stayed at the mansion since Jean had passed away.

* * *

The grandfather clock from downstairs echoed softly throughout the upstairs hallways of the mansion. The creaks of the hardwood floor under John's feet blended right in with the steady metronome. He carefully padded his way down the hall and stopped at her door. Slowly, he opened the door to Marie's room, and stepped inside.


	5. Five

**Author's Note: I am trying to pick up the pace of the story a little bit but its hard cause I like character building. Anyways after this chapter I promise to try harder. Thanks again for the reviews! They keep me writing. Sorry this one is short but the next chapter should be up soonish.**

He stood in the shadows, just out of reach of the moonlight spilling onto her face. Her soft skin glowed in the beam of light coming in from her picture window. She was simply beautiful.

Like some great western classic, "Dead or alive" were the only instructions given to Pyro.

_Dead was too easy, anyone could do that_, Pyro thought.

He had almost accomplished that already, but there had been no challenge, so he had eased up and allowed the drooling wild dog to pull her out of the fire.

Marie had been such an unstable girl when he saw her last, no doubt those insecurities still existed. Her brave shell was definitely going to be hard to penetrate but everyone has their breaking point. She could be his. And if not, then killing would still be a final option.

* * *

Logan lay awake in bed watching the moon dodge clouds out his window. He considered the events of the day and how desperate he had felt waiting for Marie to wake up in the Med Lab. He also thought about the days, weeks, months since he had watched Marie land the Blackbird for her first time back at Alkali Lake. She had been so terrified but yet determined to save her teammates.

When Jean had died and Logan wasn't sure what he was supposed to feel. He had so long focused his flirting on Jean. Other than Marie and Xavier (although it was probably part of his job description – "Powerful X-Man founder must love all creatures and welcome them into his home"), Jean was the only one who ever really welcomed him into the mansion. She had been kind and warm and almost made him feel like a part of the X-Men.

Logan was sad Jean was gone. They had had a fun flirty relationship and could have been great friends. But Logan wasn't torn up. At first he thought maybe he was just cold-hearted and that he had just single handedly proved Striker right; he was nothing more than a beast, before and after the claws. After Jean's funeral, he became convinced that he was clearly a man who cared about no one but himself. All he could think about was what and who he still had around him. Almost everyday of the last six months, Logan thought about how lucky it was Jean had been able to save the others. He also decided that he was thankful it hadn't been Marie. However each time he felt thankful, an automatic pang of guilt struck him for being able to dismiss Jean's death so easily. What gave him the right to choose one life over another? How could he place value on the lives of others, enough to line them up in order of priority? These questions plagued him with guilt, especially at night, when he was away from the mansion.

Suddenly the creaks of the floorboards peaked his attention. Someone was walking down the hall, near Marie's room, attempting to be quiet but failing miserably at it. Logan glanced over at his clock. 3am was probably too late (or early) for students to be sneaking around in each others rooms. Who would be visiting Marie? Scooter wasn't that dumb, was he?

Logan slipped out of bed, and carefully poked his head out his door to see John open Marie's door and slip inside. Logan arched his eyebrow and considered two options. He could burst into her room, claws extended, probably scare the crap out everyone, and end up getting Marie hurt but hopefully skewer John at the same time. Or, he could wait and see if John even decides to charbroil her like a steak, and take the risk of having to dust off the ashes later, once it was too late. Neither option was appealing to him. Maybe Scooter was right; he was being irrational and should give John the benefit of the doubt. Then again, something about that kid just didn't sit right. Definitely time to burst into her room.

Just as Logan had made up his mind to bombard Marie's room, John came back out into the hall. While he quietly shut her door, Logan had already positioned himself behind him.

"It's a little late to go apologize to her, don't you think?" Logan growled.

John was clearly startled and would have jumped out of his skin if he hadn't tried instead to cover it up and play tough.

"It's a little late to be playing big bad guard wolf, don't you think?" John recovered quickly.

"What are you doing John?" Logan was clearly mad. He hands were balled up into fists as he towered over John. He was probably the most intimidating man who had ever stood in front of John wearing nothing but flannel pyjama bottoms.

"It's Pyro. And I was just checking on Rogue. But I don't have to answer to you, so why don't you kick yourself out of the mansion, and go howl at the moon instead." John said dryly.

Logan's eyes narrowed. Yup, he definitely didn't like this guy. "Sure kid, or maybe you were trying to roast her like a marshmallow again, but I guess I'll never know. Either way, I'm watching you bub, and if you so much as blink the wrong way, I'll turn you into a shish kabob! Goodnight _John._"

John was really angry now but he had to control it. Although Logan seemed to be nothing more than a pain in the ass, Pyro had been warned that he could ruin everything. Clearly the man was waiting for Pyro to go to bed, so he did, grudgingly.

Logan waited and watched as John took the hint and went back to his own room. Once John's door was shut, Logan carefully opened Marie's room and entered.

Marie was still sleeping peacefully; the rhythm of her breathing was deep and calm. Logan approached her bed and made sure she was untouched. Her skin was pale blue under the watch of the moon, and Logan was once again reminded of how astoundingly beautiful she was. When he was satisfied that John had caused her no harm, he sat down in the big sofa chair by her window. There he waited for the sun to rise.


	6. Six

**Author's Note: Well this part is a little fluffy and I had a hard time liking it, so it took me forever to post it. If you prefer John as a white knight character you may not like this story (he makes such a great evil charcter). Happy Thanksgiving fellow Canadians! Everyone please review, it is a writer's fuel.**

Scott was up early that morning hoping to get some work done before he had to teach his classes. He passed by Marie's room and couldn't resist the urge to look in on her. Maybe some of Logan's paranoia was wearing off on him. He opened the door just a crack, enough to see Marie was still sleeping peacefully despite the pain her burns were probably causing her. Unfortunately he opened the door just enough to also catch Logan's dirty glare from his spot across the room, the guy seriously needed to chill out. However Scott felt some relief knowing that first, Logan had kept his eye on Marie all night long and second, that his _eye_ was probably all he had put on Marie, since he was still fully clothed.

Scott had found himself thinking more and more about Marie lately. In fact he often found it difficult _not_ to think about her. This morning was no exception. Clearly, work was not a viable option. He would have liked to have sorted through some of the newest surveillance files that had arrived yesterday from a few of the professor's international contacts, but his concentration for such a task was shot. Scott instead took the elevator to the underground floors of the mansion and headed for the locker room outside the danger room. A good workout might just do the trick.

* * *

Marie slowly opened her eyes, acutely aware that someone else was in her room. His smell was unmistakable; pine and well-worn leather.

"Logan, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Well, it looks like I am sitting in a comfy chair, but appearances are deceiving. I believe what I am actually doing is trying to ignore the three hundred or so muscles that have taken the time to cramp up and cause me great discomfort while I wait for you to wake up. You hardly need beauty sleep, darling, so don't you think that eight hours is a little excessive?"

"Well that will teach you to watch someone sleep! I don't know how you do it; it's got to be the most boring activity ever." She carefully stepped out of bed, wearing only a black T-shirt and her underwear. She was not used to having someone see her with so much skin exposed. Not that she entirely minded. It was kind of nice to flaunt her muscular figure, even if it was first thing in the morning, no one's most flattering time of day.

"Did you sleep well?" Logan asked looking down at something, anything, on the floor.

"You tell me." She slipped on some jeans, a grey sweat top and a pair of grey silk gloves over her bandages, her bra would have to wait until later. Was Logan avoiding her gaze? Seriously, the guy had poor timing! Marie had just gotten used to the idea that she was not built for the whole relationship thing, and here was Logan, acting like a school boy trying desperately to resist looking in the girl's locker room!

"I gotta go." Marie was frustrated. She couldn't understand this man's intentions at the best of times. Why on earth would he find it necessary to watch over her all night?!? She was more than capable of defending herself..._Cause that was so apparent yesterday when I passed out in the fire! Yeah, right,_ she thought, _no wonder he felt the need to watch over me!_

"I really need to talk some things over with you Marie. There are just some things that need to get sorted out between us, some things I need you to know," Logan said.

"Okay, shoot...." Marie waited for the answer she knew was never coming. "...Maybe later then, I guess?!"

Logan still didn't speak but his eyes spoke a thousand words. Maybe it was better that they didn't have the "talk" at this particular point in time. Marie definitely didn't feel ready to face any sort of emotional discussion. So instead, she quickly left the room. She felt vaguely like she was suffocating and needed some air. She practically flew down the stairs and would have made it out the front door in no time flat if she hadn't of ran smack into Ororo.

"My, aren't we in hurry!" Ororo managed to grab the wall in time to prevent a complete wipe out. "You know you don't have any classes to teach for the rest of week, right? The professor thought it would be best if your burns were given proper chance to heal. Kurt really wanted to attend your art class too, but I'll try to keep him busy...somehow..." Ororo was lost in thought, but the smile on her face was priceless.

"Thanks. I've...I've just got to get some air... I think." Marie knew exactly where she wanted to go.

She headed out of the mansion, and towards the hanger on the opposite side of the grounds. The older blackbird waited there for her. It was rarely used as it was an older model and was not as fast or advanced as their current blackbird, which was located under the basketball court. The "old bird", as it had been affectionately named by most of the X-Men, needed to be taken out and set free, and Marie was just the person to do it.

As she approached the older machine, she ran her hand along its smooth black belly.

"Don't worry; we'll just go for a quick trip. I know you've felt neglected, but today we're both going to be set free, even if it is only for a little while."

She made soft circles with her fingers across the metallic surface as she paced down the length of the plane. "You and I, were not so different... we're filled with possibility but we have been locked away too soon. We still have so much left in us, right old girl?...So much energy, fear, yet so much still to experience...if only someone would just take a chance on us."

"I'm willing to take that chance." Scott stood by the hanger door. He was hesitant to invade on her space, but he just couldn't help it, he had spoken before he had a chance to stop himself. She needed to know and who was he to keep it from her?

Marie was speechless. She just stared at him as he slowly approached the blackbird. Soon he was so close to her that she could see a small bead of sweat run down his forehead. His movements were slow but precise and Marie didn't dare say a word in case any sudden movement might alter the course he was choosing to take. Scott took her gloved hand and carefully turned it in his. Slowly, he removed the glove and brought it up to her face. He gently touched her face with the soft satin of the glove. As the satin brushed across her lips, he kissed her softly through the material.

As quickly as he had come onto her, he left her alone again. He backed away leaving the glove in her open palm. Scott only smiled back at Marie as he ducked out the hanger door, leaving her to her thoughts once more.

Marie let out the breath she had apparently been holding. Slowly she turned, and walked up the ramp of the blackbird. She plopped herself down into the captain's chair and buckled up, flipping various switches bringing the aircraft to life.

* * *

There was a light wind across the desert cooling down the hot sand. Marie sat against a large rock sheltered from the wind and watched as the clouds rolled by. She wished that she had brought some art history papers to mark while she relaxed in the shade but instead settled for just relaxing. She wouldn't stay too long, but since she had given her piloting skills quite a run with all the loops and dips, she definitely she needed a break.

* * *

Logan grabbed a pop from the fridge and wandered into the TV room. Some of the younger students were huddled around the TV working on homework, waiting for suppertime to be called. Logan hadn't seen Marie all day and was beginning to wonder if there were places to hide in the mansion that he hadn't yet thought of.

_Well desperate times call for desperate measures, _Logan thought. He headed up the stairs in search of Scott.

Scott was not in his room across from Marie's. He hadn't been in the Danger Room, or in any of the offices on the top floor. Logan had even checked Marie's room for him, knowing that if he had been in there, he may have done some redecorating with his claws. One last place to look: the room on second floor, past the children's wing down at the far west side of the mansion, the room that had been Scott and Jean's.

"Scott..." Logan slowly opened the door to find Scott sting on a neatly made king size bed, holding Jean's picture in his hands.

"I just miss her so much. But sometimes I feel overwhelmed with the idea that she isn't really gone." Scott said.

"I, uh, I...I'm just looking for Marie." Logan wondered what it was like to actually lose someone like that. If Marie was ever...the though sent shivers down his pine. "Look man, just tell me you've seen her, and she's okay, and I'll leave you alone."

"Marie had to get away for a while. I don't blame her, I think I kinda acted irrationally, and have confused her even more." Scott put the picture of Jean back down on the bedside table.

"Yeah, I know. I really need to straighten things out with her and let her make some choices that I will respect – Wait! _You_ did what?" Logan didn't generally get along with this man but respected him as Marie's good friend. One more person to look out for Marie was always a good thing. He couldn't have purposefully hurt Marie. Maybe he had lashed out at her by accident or maybe the opposite had happened... But wasn't this man was still grieving? Scott had been in love with Jean since they had been teenagers...Logan's mind was going a mile a minute.

"Logan – don't worry. I'll talk to her and work it out. It's nothing really," Scott said. "Besides Marie will be back by day's end. She didn't bring anything with her as far as I know so she'll be getting hungry and tired. She's fine Logan, just relax."

"Where did she go Scooter? I'm not in the mood to be consoled!"

"She likes her privacy just like you do Mr. Goes-mysteriously-disappearing-every-night!"

Logan felt a little silly for worrying but he couldn't shake the nasty feeling he had in the pit of his stomach. However he concentrated his efforts on looking for someone else for a while. As long as he could find John and interrogate him for a while, Logan would probably feel a little better about the Marie situation.

* * *

Marie awoke with a start. She hadn't meant to fall asleep but had clearly been asleep for quite a few hours as the sun was low over the horizon and a deep pink was flooding the desert sky. But what had woken her up? Suddenly she heard it. Something or someone was moving around inside the blackbird. Did she have a stow-away, or did some sort of desert animal go exploring up the ramp and into the aircraft?

Rogue quietly stood up and approached the blackbird. Whoever it was, was being absolutely still now. Even with the increased sensitivity of her hearing she couldn't detect any movement. Rogue looked around for anything she could use as a weapon. She grabbed a fist size rock over lack of anything else. She removed her gloves, but unfortunately her skin wouldn't be great weapon right now as most of the skin along her hands and arms were wrapped in white bandages.

_Dammit! _She thought. _What a great time to be wrapped up like a mummy!_

Rogue slowly climbed the ramp, with the rock in hand. She couldn't very well wait for the intruder to exit blackbird. If it was a stowaway, they may know how to fly the aircraft and leave her stranded in the desert. Cautiously she checked the cockpit first; it was the smallest area of the old plane, and the easiest to clear. If she could clear that area, she could be more defensive knowing the space behind her was safe. Nothing was different about the cockpit, it remained the way she had left it. Slowly she proceeded to the back of the plane where the medical supplies were kept. There were also a bunch of weapons kept there that hopefully the intruder hadn't discovered.

_Great! My heart is beating a mile a minute, _Marie thought, _over probably nothing more than a hungry rat looking for food._

Suddenly someone leapt at her from behind a stack of supplies in the far back of the plane. The attacker pounced on Marie knocking her to the ground square on her back. Instinctively, she grabbed at his bare skin with her hands, but to no avail. She had momentarily forgotten that her hands were too covered by the bandages to have any effect. Instead, she placed both feet squarely on his chest on kicked him off. But it was too late. The delay in her actions had given her attacker enough time to stab her thigh with something. The empty needle still clung into her muscle. Marie yanked the needle out as she finally got a good look at her intruder.

Ya know I thought it might have been a rat rustling around in my plane, and looks like I was right!" Marie's vision was beginning to get blurry, but she continued to focus on her intruder. Her muscles were already in a state of paralysis, so if she couldn't get in the last punch, she would definitely get in the last word.

"Man, you kick hard! Who would have thought that a desert flower such as yourself actually has some bite to her?" Pyro slowly picked himself up off the floor. His chest ached from where she had kicked him, and blood trickled down the back of his head where he had hit his head on the cupboard door he had landed on. Thank God he got the needle in when he did, or he would have ended up severely beaten. Of course he would never admit such a possibility...

"Save your energy Marie," he continued. "You're going to need it, cause we're going for a little trip."

"John, why.. are... you ..doing this? You have a home with ...us at Xavier's." Marie was finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate. "Logan...Logan... I need you....Logan." As she heard the engine of the black bird come to life, blackness engulfed her mind.


End file.
